NASA research announcement (NRA) development of fatigue life prediction of rotor spars by using discrete damage modeling the advanced composites project (ACP) is a NASA ARMD aeronautics project…

This firm fixed-price federal contract was awarded by NASA's Langley Research Center to the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) under the NASA Research Announcement (NRA) for the Advanced Composites Project (ACP). The $1,047,437 contract aims to extend the Discrete Damage Modeling (DDM) framework to predict fatigue life of rotorcraft structures, such as blade spars, through progressive damage analysis. The effort will validate the DDM methodology under fatigue loading by comparing results to experimental data. The contract supports the ACP's goal of reducing the certification timeline for advanced composite aircraft structures by 30% through the development of physics-based predictive tools. UTA, a Hispanic Serving Institution, has extensive experience executing federal research contracts and grants across scientific and technical disciplines.

NASA research announcement (NRA) development of fatigue life prediction of rotor spars by using discrete damage modeling the advanced composites project (ACP) is a NASA ARMD aeronautics project aligned with the strategic objective of enabling a revolutionary transformation for safe and sustainable US and global aviation through aeronautics research. ACP is seeking to reduce the timeline for development and certification of state-of-the-art composite materials and structures which will help make advanced composite components more competitive in the commercial aircraft market. ACP will accomplish this goal by infusing leading-edge physics-based tools to improve composite structures characterization and simulations develop standardized procedures and optimize fabrication processes to enable the reduction of the existing 10 year development and certification timeline for aircraft structures by 30%. ACP will also utilize system-level testing and evaluation to investigate promising concepts and technologies for air vehicle structures and demonstrate the benefits of those technologies in a relevant environment. ACP focuses on specific technology challenges that involve key components of the aircraft development and certification lifecycle specifically: predictive capabilities rapid inspection and manufacturing process and simulation technologies. On february 11, 2015, NASA headquarters aeronautics research mission directorate (ARMD) released the NASA research announcement (NRA) NNH15ZEA001N, entitled research opportunities in aeronautics 2015 appendix a.5 advanced composites project. In support of the predictive capabilities (PC) technical challenge the solicitation sought proposals to develop and validate high fidelity composite damage prediction methods sufficiently reliable to enable reduction of the element and subcomponent testing necessary for design development and certification and create rapid design tools to reduce preliminary design timeline and reduce redesign. This statement of work is the result of a proposal submitted by the university of dayton research institute for award under the ROA NNH15ZEA001N appendix a.5 subtopic 5.2.1.3 fatigue life prediction of rotor spars via progressive damage analysis (PDA). The scope of this effort is to extend the discrete damage modeling (DDM) framework presently applied at the coupon level to strength and life prediction in rotorcraft structures (such as blade spars) by achieving the following objectives: DDM methodology in which the displacement discontinuities associated with matrix cracking are introduced without regard to mesh orientation will be validated under fatigue loading. The regularized extended finite element (RX-FEM) technique for mesh independent crack (MIC) insertion was previously developed for static progressive failure analysis (PFA). This technique is part of a broader analysis software known as B-spline analysis method (BSAM). The validation under fatigue loading will be accomplished through comparison with experimental data literature data and more importantly with year 1 and year 2 validation experiments conducted by NASA scientists and engineers.